street furniture

Here’s the view from the back of Scootercaffé in Lower Marsh in Waterloo. The wall art depicts a film-maker poised above the guttering. Just visible, a strand of ivy. To the right a bridge. And a road sign for three destinations: Kennington, the Elephant and Brixton. Each has played a part in my life. Kennington is home to Oval Theatre where I performed in plays from my late teens to early 20s. Elephant and Castle is where, as a child, I watched Saturday morning pictures... so many cliff-hangers. Brixton is where I lived for 10 years. And Scootercaffé  is where, just the other day, I enjoyed an excellent cappuccino; something that would have been impossible in my youth. Unless I went to Italy. Which I didn’t. Not then, anyway. 

Oh, and here’s one of the lamps in the café: a converted hair dryer. See below.

mirror man

This hair-drying contraption is in the window of a hairdressers in Wales. Don’t worry.  They don’t use these head-frying things any more. It’s a retro window to make you smile… and be grateful that things have moved on since then.

What would Julia Gillard’s hairdresser partner make of it, I wonder?  I know what I made of her speech taking on Mr Misogyny in the Australian parliament. Wonderful. And to Tony Abbott, go take a hike (don’t forget your mirror).

New apprenticeship scheme?

You can never start ‘em too young! This headline conforms to the image Peckham holds in the imagination. They’re all out nicking, aren’t they?

Well, no. On Peckham Rye at the weekend, there were A-4 home-made posters tacked to trees and railings appealing for help in finding a ‘loved ferret’. There was the couple walking at the right pace for their three-legged Yorkshire terrier. And, a game of five-a-side football; three of the players were women. A land of contrasts.